DUBLIN: The Irish arm of US lighting firm Universal Display Corporation (UDC) made a $21m(€19m) loss last year on revenue of $98.2m, newly-filed accounts show.
The $2.4bn publicly-listed company is involved in the research and development, marketing and selling of lighting products and components. It focuses on the development of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and other related technologies.
In June, it paid $87m for the OLED intellectual property of German industrial giant BASF using its Irish subsidiary to consummate the deal. The accounts for the Irish business show that the loss it made last year compared to a $1m loss in 2014.
Revenue is accumulated from the sale of “non-hazardous chemical materials and licensing”, the accounts note. None of its revenue was generated in Ireland, with virtually all of the $98.2m figure in 2015 being derived from sales to east Asia.
The accounts also note that its research and development expenditure in 2015 totalled $36.2m, compared to $34.1m the year before. The Irish unit has just seven staff members, including two involved in sales, and paid a total of $1m in salaries last year. The US parent releases third-quarter results next week.
For the second quarter of the year, it reported revenue of $64.4m and net income of $21.8m. That included $1.8m in currency exchange losses related to the BASF transaction.
Chief financial officer Sidney Rosenblatt said that the company expects “strong revenue growth” in 2017 with new products contributing to its future sales.
“Ahead of this wave of high-volume capacity, we have been working to expand and broaden our team and core competencies to advance our strategic initiatives and increase our competitive edge,” he said.
